Thank you for your interest in becoming a Foothills Climbing Leader!
This application is the first step to becoming a Climbing Leader. Climbing Leadership is broken into two tracks: Frontcountry and Backcountry
Frontcountry Leaders can lead trips for novice climbing students and experienced climbers to locations with easy access to vehicles, emergency services, usually less than hour from a trailhead. Examples include: conditioning hikes up Mount Si, cragging at Vantage or Leavenworth, or conditioning/training days on snow.
Backcountry Leaders can lead trips for novice climbing students and experience climbers to locations that are further from vehicles, emergency services, and may be more than an hour from a trailhead. Examples include: Rock Trips (The Tooth, Ingalls, Liberty Bell etc), Glacier Trips (Rainier, Sahale, Baker, etc), Alpine Trips (Colchuck, Dragon Tail, Unicorn), or multipitch crag trips (R&D, Tree, Stump, Midway)
For more information about the requirements for each leader can be found on the
Climbing Leadership Page.
Foothills (specific) Climbing Leader Process/Requirements
- Be a Mountaineers Member in good standing - you are current on your club dues, waiver is signed, current on Navigation and Wilderness First Aid
- Have graduated from a Basic Alpine Climbing Course, or have been granted equivalency.
- Volunteer for leadership roles on trips that are pertinent to the badge you are applying for, such as being a rope lead for Rock Climbs, being a rope lead for Glacier Climbs, volunteering as an instructor for a sport/crag climb, etc. Do not complete any mentored leads of climbs.
- Submit your Climbing Leader Application (This is the application)
- Upon review and acceptance from the Climbing Committee, complete the necessary number of mentored leads with different approved Foothills Climbing Mentors. Your mentor shall complete and submit their Mentored Lead Report after every mentored lead you do. Mentored leads done before your accepted Climbing Leader Application will be rejected.
- Mentored leads should occur within the same climbing season, but must be completed within two consecutive climbing seasons.
- Send an email to the Climbing Committee stating that your mentored leads are complete.
- The Climbing Committee will review your Mentored Lead Reports, contact participants on your climbs, obtain feedback from the general Foothills Climb Leader Roster, and either approve you for your Leader Badge or provide feedback/additional guidance.
Foothills (specific) Climbing Leader Caveats
- Climbing Leaders are expected to lead trips or climbs that are within their technical skills
- Climbing Leaders who wish to mentor new leaders must be approved by the Climbing Committee.
- All Leaders must lead at least 1 activity or climb every 3 years. Leader badges will expire 3 years after award or last activity/climb.
- Leaders for any climbing activity (field trip, lecture, seminar, practice, trip, etc) that includes basic students must attend an Instructor Review once every 3 years.
Application Comments
- This application is a combination of short text fields, essay style questions, and uploading of documents. A copy of the application can be downloaded here, but an electronic copy must be submitted